Equip Super cuts fees for members

Equip Super has cut administration fees for members and has dropped buy-sell spreads on investment transactions to help deliver improved net benefit to members.

The new fees reduce the fund’s flat weekly administration fee from $1.50 to $1.25 and its asset-based administration fee from 0.2 per cent per annum to 0.15 per cent per annum. The maximum asset-based administration fee payable by a member had already reduced from $900 to $750 per year.

For pension members, the new flat weekly fee is now $2.50, with the asset-based fee dropping from 0.35 per cent per annum to 0.15 per cent per annum. The maximum asset-based pension administration fee has dropped from $1,575 to $750 per annum.

Equip chief executive, Nick Vamvakas, said the fund expected to deliver more savings for members by the end of the financial year as they consolidated products, investments, and administration operations.

Equip said the fund’s investment fee disclosure under the corporate watchdog’s Regulatory Guide 97, took the Equip MySuper default option to 0.64 per cent per annum, up 0.07 per cent from the previously disclosed amount of 0.57 per cent.

Vamvakas said the fee reductions were achieved while the fund expanded its national footprint as a result of the merger with Rio Tinto Staff Superannuation Fund on 1 July 2017.

“Increased scale is not just about reducing fees. It’s about enhancing our capacity to invest in the products and services that can provide greater financial security for members in the future,” he said.

“An important part of that is providing ready access to financial education and affordable advice, which are cornerstones of Equip’s value offer to members.”